Costly retreat leading high-end trend

At an asking price of $22 million, the Lido Key home is the region's highest ever listing; but it's not alone

By HAROLD BUBIL Real Estate Editor

One listing does not a real estate trend make, even if, at $22 million, it has the highest asking price for a home in the region's history.

But the property at 6630 Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key is among 15 houses for sale in Sarasota-Manatee that are priced at $9 million or more.

That is a trend, and it is helping put Sarasota "on the radar" for "discerning consumers," said real estate broker Drayton Saunders.

He means very wealthy people.

As news of the listing spread, longtime market observers nodded and took heart.

"This is what we are seeing," said marketing consultant Amy Drake, who is working with developer Jay Tallman on his proposed Aria luxury condominium. "Every one of the people who are looking at our units are CEOs, and they are not balking at paying $1,000 a square foot."

"It is not uncommon to see people fly in on their private jet on a Friday, see a property on Saturday and take off to their next destination on Sunday," Saunders said.

"Qualified buyers in search of luxury and exclusivity are almost always willing to pay a premium when they find properties that satisfy their lifestyle wants and needs," Tallman said. "Our area continues to attract more and more buyers of significant properties who believe Sarasota represents good value when compared to markets like Naples and Palm Beach, and towns in California, where many buyers are fleeing for our shores.

"It means we are going to a new level," said longtime local Realtor Lynn Robbins of Coldwell Banker. "It is very exciting. Visiting Naples, I always thought it would eventually come here. It's got to, because Sarasota is such a fabulous place and people are building estate-type properties.

"Our prices have always been 25 to 30 percent less than Naples. And I have always felt Sarasota is a more desirable area to live."

Price justified

Deborah Beacham, the listing agent of the $22 million listing, which has two houses totalling 10,000 square feet on 2.6 beachfront acres with a seawall, believes the price would be closer to $40 million in Naples or Palm Beach.

"It is not just the 10,000 square feet," Beacham said. "It is the whole compound with walkways and terraces -- over 36,000 square feet of structure. And you don't find almost three acres with this kind of frontage, 270 feet, and a seawall -- that is just not available."

It is one of just two beachfront homes on Longboat Key that has a seawall, said Michael Walker, who built the house.

"Over in Palm Beach, if you can find such a piece of property on the beach, you are talking $20 million," Beacham said. "This is not overpriced. Our most recent land sale (on Longboat) was $6 million, for 200 feet of frontage, and they paid full price. The prices out here are starting to come up and they will continue to, because there is so little land like this."

Two house-compound

But the property, known as the Ohana Family Retreat and being sold by a Canadian family whose situation changed in the middle of the project, is more than a big parcel of sand.

Designed by architect Guy Peterson, the compound includes a new, elevated 7,000-square-foot main house and a remodeled 3,000-square-foot guest house on grade.

The guest house had been the main house on the property, and was in poor shape before Peterson and Walker redid it to modern code -- in three phases to avoid exceeding the 50 percent rule, which would have required it to be elevated.

They kept the original house, circa 1960, because it is advantageous to be able to step through a sliding-glass door and right onto the beach. But the structure was a mess, and had to be strengthened to meet 140 mph hurricane windloads.

"It was like unscrambling scrambled eggs," Peterson said.

Tropical features

But that phase of the project pales in the shadow of the main house, which is inspired by tropical architecture like that found in Africa and the South Pacific. The spaces are open, with tall, vaulted ceilings that follow the shape of the hip roofs.

There is even a touch of Native American design, as the resort-like property has three "chickee" structures -- open-sided pavilions made with cypress posts and thatched with cabbage palm fronds.

The house has three pods that sit atop a commercial-grade poured concrete slab. It looks little like a typical Peterson house, if there is such a thing. Its hurricane-resistant structure is clad in a kind of mahogany that gives it a rich, warm look.

The wood continues inside on the floors, ceilings and frames of the low-e, impact-resistant Marvin windows. The detailing is "critical to something like this," Peterson said. "You build by analysis and not by comparison."

There is no shortage of magnificent views of the Gulf and the beach as it curves to the northwest.

"All my clients want something special, but there is nothing I have ever done that is quite like this," said Peterson, who won the commission after a design competition, managed by Walker, with three other local firms.

"You are not just buying a house here, you are buying an experience," Peterson said. "The architecture is unique and different, but we have activated every piece of this property. No matter where you go in the house, you can have an experience that you would not normally have."

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